Sunday, December 13, 2015

Church of England Clergyman Banned Over Same-Sex Marriage

A Church of England clergyman has been banned from taking services because he married his same-sex partner last year.

Jeremy Davies, who served as Canon Precentor at Salisbury Cathedral for more than two decades, married his long-term partner Simon McEnery despite a ban by his Church

Jeremy Davies Photo: Facebook

The Diocese of Winchester has since rejected the Canon’s application to officiate, sparking outrage among his family and friends.

The ban came as the Archbishop of Canterbury last week revealed that were his children gay, he would attend their same-sex weddings and “always love them” in comments that threatened to reignite divides in the Church over the issue.

The Church of England was formally opposed to legislation for same-sex marriage, which came into effect in 2014.

While gay couples who get married are able to ask for special prayers in the church after their wedding, “pastoral guidance” bans gay and lesbian clergy from tying the knot.

The Rev Canon Jeremy Pemberton, a hospital chaplain in Lincolnshire, had accused the Church of discrimination on grounds of sexuality by stripping him of his licence to preach in the Diocese of Southwell and Nottingham, where he lives, after he married his long-term partner Laurence Cunnington.